Mick Fowler – Mountaineer and author

Overview:

Mick has been climbing since the 1970’s and doesn’t plan to stop any time soon. He was introduced to rock climbing and mountaineering by his father at the age of 10 and hasn’t looked back.

A one for pushing the boundaries, Mick made numerous ground breaking first ascents on chalk, shale, London drainpipes and other cliffs not previously viewed as suitable for climbing.

Mick’s climbing career has continued to grow from strength to strength since his early 20’s, putting him as one of the top in his field resulting in a number of honours such as; ‘The Mountaineers’ Mountaineer’ (Observer newspaper) and ‘The King Albert Medal for Mountain Achievement’. He scooped his third Piolets d’Or in 2016, the most prestigious award in mountaineering.

Specialising in technically challenging peaks between 6000m and 7000m, Mick has been a regular expedition climber since 1982, joining the Berghaus team in 2008. He immediately started putting the Extrem gear to the test on his expeditions and has remained a fundamental part of the development of our most innovative products.

As an accomplished author Mick has written two books about his climbs and won several literary awards including; ‘The John Whyte Award’ at the Banff Mountain Festival in Canada, ‘The Best Book Prize’ at the Bormio Mountain Festival in Italy, ‘The Grand Prix’ at the Passy Book Festival in France and ‘Best Outdoor Book’ at the Golden Rhino Awards in China.

Mick now serves as President of the Alpine Club and is a Patron of the British Mountaineering Council and an Honorary Fellow of the University of Cumbia.

• 2016 –Summited, the previously unclimbed Sersank in the Indian Himalayas.
• 2015 – Summited Gave Ding, a 6,400m peak in Nepal's Himalaya.
• 2014 - First ascent of the NE Face of Hagshu (6687m) in the Indian Himalaya.
• Numerous new climbs on previously unclimbed cliffs and sea stacks around the country.
• Numerous other major Himalayan first ascents in Sichuan, Xingjiang, Russia, Peru, Yukon, Tibet, Pakistan, India etc. over a 35 year period- and ongoing.
• 1987 - The Golden Pillar of Spantik (7027m) in the Pakistan Himalaya. The climb was widely regarded as a new benchmark for alpine style Himalayan ascents.
• 1982 - Taullliraju Buttress in Peru - a climb which was widely regarded as setting new alpine style standards in the Andes.
• 1979 - First winter ascent of Shield Direct (VII) on Ben Nevis in - the first Scottish climb to be graded VI (since upgraded to VII).
• 1976 - First free ascent of Linden (E6) at Curbar Edge - one of the first climbs in the UK to be graded E6.
• First ascent of a leaking toilet outflow on St Pancras Station in the heart of London (60ft) (V).
• First ascent of the White Cliffs of Dover.
• First free ascent of Beachy Head
• First free ascent and one-day ascent of St John's Head, the highest vertical cliff in the UK.

Mick’s favourite piece of kit is his Ramche Jacket.

“It’s just so light, warm and recovers so quickly if it gets wet. Brilliant”

For the majority of his climbing career, Mick has been living a double life as a Tax Man (no booing!) Recently retired, we expect to see even more of Mick in the future.

You can follow Mick on social media.

FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/Mick-Fowler-Berghaus

TWITTER - https://twitter.com/mickfowler